I am trying to track down my great grandfather, with very little information to go on. His name is James Morrison, and by records we have in the US, he was born in August, between 1828 and 1833, but most likely closer to 1833. His death records in the US say that he was born in Belfast, but we have found no documentation, so locating a parish is difficult. Also, no one in the family in the US has any documentation or recollection of who his parents are.
James emigrated to the United States in 1850, arriving in New York in April via the Dromahair. He settled in Concord, New Hampshire, where he found work at a company called Abbot Downing, who manufactured the legendary "Concord Coach" stagecoaches made famous by Wells Fargo and countless US Western movies. In 1854, he married my great grandmother, Anne Magee, b Belfast 1834. He also attended church n Concord with then former US President Franklin Pierce, a native of Concord.
I would greatly appreciate any assistance or sugestions on what to do to break this logjam. I know I have precious little to go on, so I have also taken a paternal DNA test to try to reconnect family ties to Ireland, to no direct connections as yet. Those results are posted at the Clan Morrison DNA project, connected with the names James Morrison, Anne Magee and Charles Henry Morrison.
Thanks!
Craig Morrison
CraigandSam.com
TheFortRocks.com
facebook.com/craigandsam
Tuesday 10th Jul 2012, 11:42PM
Message Board Replies
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I will keep an eye out for him...I am looking for an Elizabeth Morrison b 18 Aug 1834. I guess N Ireland as she was Presbyterian, but I have no idea. But she immigrated to Canada 1856....per their 1901 census.
Pay attention to childrens names...I would bet his father's first name was given to a child - it is true in my other Irish tree branches!
Wednesday 11th Jul 2012, 03:10AM -
I will keep an eye out for him...I am looking for an Elizabeth Morrison b 18 Aug 1834. I guess N Ireland as she was Presbyterian, but I have no idea. But she immigrated to Canada 1856....per their 1901 census.
Pay attention to childrens names...I would bet his father's first name was given to a child - it is true in my other Irish tree branches!
Wednesday 11th Jul 2012, 03:10AM -
I have, but still am looking for documentation to shore up clues...some of the names that have repeated themselves down the lines in the US have been James, William and Henry...
What part of Canada did Elizabeth settle in?
Wednesday 11th Jul 2012, 07:56PM -
b 18 Aug 1834, d 19 Jul 1922 - lived to the age of 87! As far as I can tell she came to Canada and lived the entire time in Dunnville Ontario Canada, on the shore of Lake Erie west of the Welland canal. Found her there on the first census after her immigration date [which came from a census later] Can't yet find her marriage record to my GG Grandfather James McConnell.
They had kids : James, Mary Alice, Robert, William Jeremiah, Frank, Elizabeth Jane, Margaret, Agnes Florence, Harry Benson, and Sarah. Harry Benson McConnell is my great grandfather.
Wednesday 11th Jul 2012, 08:40PM -
Interesting naming...I also have an uncle and brother named James, uncle, grand uncle and half uncle William, grand aunt Elizabeth, and father Frank...my grandfather Charles married Alice Benjamin of Nova Scotia
Wednesday 11th Jul 2012, 08:47PM -
the hard thing about Canadian genealogy is that they did not pay that much attention to people coming and going from other places in the British Realm, and I have looked through as many ship manifests as I can find to try and find her or her husbands arrival to Canada from Ireland with no luck that matches the census years.
Many arrived to Canada through Nova Scotia...they had health holds there to prevent diseases that come from the ship voyages. And many immigrants stayed and tried to earn some money close by before they headed off to other places.
As for names...I have to assume they are family names...but I sure do not know. My grandfather was named after his father too. his middle name was Allan though and that is the name he used.
Wednesday 11th Jul 2012, 09:00PM